Morgan's Black Widow
Jul. 11th, 2006 09:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sawylWas there ever a match quite so perfect as Richard Morgan and comic books? Morgan, and Quell, are firm, oft quoted favourites of mine, so when I heard that he was writing a series of Black Widow comics for Marvel, I felt a strange mix of anticipation and nervousness. Well, I've finally overcome my nerves and read the first two trades, so here are a couple of summaries and a couple of thoughts.
Homecoming finds a retired Natasha Romanova living in Arizona and climbing large rock piles for fun. Her newly tranquil existence is ruined when, on the way to a climb, a guy with a broken down car tries to kill her. She does a flit and, after hooking up with old friend Phil Dexter, she learns of the deaths of several other former Soviet agents, including pro-choice activist gunned down in the street. After discovering a bottle of mysterious pills in the murdered woman's apartment and learning of the assassins' Russian origins, Natasha heads to Moscow in search of information about the Black Widow program leaving Phil to look after Sally Anne, a girl they prevented from being raped at a Texan truck stop, and to dodge the newly privatised government agents of the North Group.
The Things They Say About Her follows on more or less directly from Homecoming, with Natasha in Cuba to get help from fellow former agent Yelena Belova. On a favour to Yelena, she heads to Miami to sort out a problem with the supply of medical materials, only to discover the meds from the activist's place. Unfortunately, she kicks up enough of a fuss to alert the North Group and they decide to send two agents with serious grudges after her. With Nick Fury and Matt Monroe playing intercept with North — for their troubles, they too get a free trip to Cuba, the American bit — Natasha chases down the drugs link and learns that Sally Anne has been taken to a mysterious camp where a dodgy doctor, late of Pinochet's regime, has been working on mind control drugs.
So, how well does Morgan acquit himself as a comic book writer? Pretty damned well if you ask me. He has a good affinity for the character, not all that surprising given his Kovacs novels, and he sets up a plot that allows him to raise some familiar themes: the privatisation of government agencies and their subsequent lack of accountability; the blurring of the line between ruthless capitalism and extreme violence; the nature of memory and how it contributes to who we really are.
While both collections contain a fair amount of politics, the second is probably overt about it. Fury, partly as a consequence of telling the President that he wasn't elected but lied and bought his way into office, gets thrown into Guantanamo, Natasha is painted as a terrorist by the North Group and the members of a Miami drug syndicate, while not exactly portrayed as sweetness and light, are shown to be rather less venal than the politicians and mercenaries supposedly on the side of the government.
So, in summary, an interesting read by an excellent writer with art that's a good match to Morgan's style. As your attorney, I most heartily advise you to read this...
Homecoming finds a retired Natasha Romanova living in Arizona and climbing large rock piles for fun. Her newly tranquil existence is ruined when, on the way to a climb, a guy with a broken down car tries to kill her. She does a flit and, after hooking up with old friend Phil Dexter, she learns of the deaths of several other former Soviet agents, including pro-choice activist gunned down in the street. After discovering a bottle of mysterious pills in the murdered woman's apartment and learning of the assassins' Russian origins, Natasha heads to Moscow in search of information about the Black Widow program leaving Phil to look after Sally Anne, a girl they prevented from being raped at a Texan truck stop, and to dodge the newly privatised government agents of the North Group.
The Things They Say About Her follows on more or less directly from Homecoming, with Natasha in Cuba to get help from fellow former agent Yelena Belova. On a favour to Yelena, she heads to Miami to sort out a problem with the supply of medical materials, only to discover the meds from the activist's place. Unfortunately, she kicks up enough of a fuss to alert the North Group and they decide to send two agents with serious grudges after her. With Nick Fury and Matt Monroe playing intercept with North — for their troubles, they too get a free trip to Cuba, the American bit — Natasha chases down the drugs link and learns that Sally Anne has been taken to a mysterious camp where a dodgy doctor, late of Pinochet's regime, has been working on mind control drugs.
So, how well does Morgan acquit himself as a comic book writer? Pretty damned well if you ask me. He has a good affinity for the character, not all that surprising given his Kovacs novels, and he sets up a plot that allows him to raise some familiar themes: the privatisation of government agencies and their subsequent lack of accountability; the blurring of the line between ruthless capitalism and extreme violence; the nature of memory and how it contributes to who we really are.
While both collections contain a fair amount of politics, the second is probably overt about it. Fury, partly as a consequence of telling the President that he wasn't elected but lied and bought his way into office, gets thrown into Guantanamo, Natasha is painted as a terrorist by the North Group and the members of a Miami drug syndicate, while not exactly portrayed as sweetness and light, are shown to be rather less venal than the politicians and mercenaries supposedly on the side of the government.
So, in summary, an interesting read by an excellent writer with art that's a good match to Morgan's style. As your attorney, I most heartily advise you to read this...
